"Dong~ Dong~ Dong~"
The brass ring knocked against the wooden door. After a moment, following a drawn-out "Coming~", the heavy door was pulled open from inside. Old Zhong saw who it was and looked quite surprised.
"Third Young Miss! How did you..."
Jiang Ning stepped inside, leaving Old Zhong's voice behind her as she walked straight towards Nangong Muyan's courtyard.
Halfway there, two more surprised exclamations came from the side: "Third Young Miss!"
Jiang Ning turned her head for a glance. Oh, it was Jin Hui and Sheng Jing.
After nodding to the two of them, Jiang Ning continued walking towards that courtyard without stopping.
"The Third Young Miss is back, I must go tell the master!" Jin Hui left Sheng Jing behind and hurried off towards the study.
Before Jiang Ning got close to the courtyard, a melodious sound of a zither drifted out from inside. It was a familiar tune. She listened carefully and recognized it as "Fishing Boat Song at Dusk."
A 20th-century melody, commonly used as background music for weather forecasts. There was no need to guess who was playing it.
Jiang Ning entered the courtyard and, as expected, saw Nangong Muyan playing the zither in the small pavilion. Outside the pavilion stood the maid who had served her before, Xiaoru.
The moment Jiang Ning entered the courtyard, Nangong Muyan looked up and glanced at her.
Seeing her walk towards the pavilion, Nangong Muyan calmly instructed, "Xiaoru, you may leave."
Xiaoru turned around and only then saw Jiang Ning. She quickly bowed her head respectfully and said, "Third Young Miss."
"Go about your business," Jiang Ning said, looking at Xiaoru.
Nangong Muyan continued playing the zither, not pausing even when Jiang Ning sat down opposite her and stared at her.
Her slender fingers plucked the strings, pouring out a melodious tune that made one envision the vast expanse of water reflecting the setting sun, with fishermen leisurely rowing their boats, gradually disappearing into the distance on the river's surface.
"You seem to be in a good mood!" Jiang Ning said coolly after listening for a while.
Nangong Muyan curled her lips into a charming smile: "If only you'd give me an old-fashioned phone that can play Tetris..."
Jiang Ning fell silent. She wanted to play too.
Nangong Muyan glanced at her again, smiling somewhat ruefully: "Now I understand why ancient people had such lofty interests. Playing zithers, chess, calligraphy, and painting, composing poetry and songs all day long—they were just bored out of their minds."
"That's exactly it," Jiang Ning agreed.
"Do you regret it now? When I tried to teach you back then, you had neither talent nor patience. Now that you're in ancient times, how do you pass the time? Surely not with constant lovemaking?"
As soon as Nangong Muyan finished speaking, she saw Jiang Ning's ears turn red and immediately burst into laughter.
"Stop talking nonsense! Just focus on playing your zither. When you're done, I have something to ask you."
Jiang Ning hated it most when Nangong Muyan teased her with words, making her feel like a child.
"Alright~"
Nangong Muyan agreed and stopped talking, concentrating on playing the zither.
When the piece ended, Nangong Muyan withdrew her hands, picked up the teapot to pour herself a cup of water, and asked with a grin: "What is it?"
Jiang Ning stared into her eyes and got straight to the point: "You and Zhou Yi—"
"Crash!"
Jiang Ning watched the teacup shatter in Nangong Muyan's hand. Before she could finish the second half of her sentence, she saw all traces of a smile vanish from Nangong Muyan's face, replaced by a murderous look in her eyes. Her voice was chillingly cold: "Did he tell you everything?"
It had been a long time since Jiang Ning had seen such an expression on Nangong Muyan's face. She was momentarily stunned, but after a moment, she shook her head and told the truth: "He didn't say anything. He just drowns his sorrows in alcohol every day. I noticed something was wrong with him, so I coaxed some information out of him. I only knew it had something to do with you, that's why I came to ask you."
Nangong Muyan exhaled imperceptibly, her expression softening a bit. She poured herself another cup of water and said nonchalantly, "Don't ask anymore, and don't mention this person in front of me again."
"What exactly did you do to him? Zhou Yi would never provoke you on his own. You must have done something to him!"
The more Nangong Muyan tried to hide it, the more Jiang Ning wanted to get to the bottom of it. At least if she understood the facts, she could treat the problem accordingly and not let Zhou Yi continue to be so depressed.
"Hah!" Nangong Muyan let out a meaningful snort. "N, I've taught you before, don't meddle in affairs that don't concern you."
Jiang Ning narrowed her eyes, then smiled.
Nangong Muyan calling her "N" at this moment was a warning.
But wasn't this kind of warning also a sign of guilty conscience?
They knew each other too well. As soon as Nangong Muyan saw Jiang Ning's expression, she knew she hadn't intimidated her. Making a quick decision, she stood up to leave.
"Zhou Yi's matter is not something I can ignore. He's my brother, and I will definitely get involved!"
Jiang Ning also stood up, reaching out to grab Nangong Muyan's shoulder to make her stop.
Nangong Muyan shifted her body, avoiding Jiang Ning's hand. Anger flashed in her eyes as she gathered strength in her arm, aiming an elbow strike at Jiang Ning's abdomen while simultaneously raising her leg to sweep across Jiang Ning's face.
Jiang Ning knew this set of moves was meant to force her back, but unfortunately, the speed and strength of Nangong Muyan's current body were far inferior to before and posed no threat to her.
So instead of retreating, Jiang Ning advanced, blocking the hand aimed at her abdomen and gripping Nangong Muyan's arm, forcefully pulling her to the side.
Nangong Muyan immediately lost her balance. Her leg attack missed, and she fell to the ground following the force of Jiang Ning's pull.
"Ling'er, Yan'er! What are you doing?" Nangong Ya's angry shout suddenly rang out from outside the pavilion.
Jiang Ning ignored him, only staring at Nangong Muyan on the ground as she said, "I don't want to fight with you. Tell me the truth."
Nangong Muyan frowned, supporting herself to get up, but suddenly a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She felt her vision go dark as her consciousness was involuntarily pulled into an abyss.
"Hey!"
Seeing Nangong Muyan's face turn as white as paper in an instant, Jiang Ning was shocked. She quickly crouched down to support her in her arms, only to see her brows tightly knitted even in unconsciousness, looking as if she was in great pain.
"Hey! What's wrong with you? Wake up!"
Jiang Ning anxiously patted Nangong Muyan's face, but the person in her arms showed no response at all.
"What are you doing? What on earth are you doing? What's wrong with Yan'er?"
Nangong Ya rushed into the pavilion with Jin Yao and Jin Hui, shouting at the top of his lungs. He was so angry that his voice was trembling, showing none of the composure he usually maintained in front of others.
Jiang Ning picked up Nangong Muyan in her arms and walked towards the bedroom, saying coldly, "What use is your shouting? Why don't you go fetch a doctor for her instead?"
Nangong Ya's breath caught at this indifferent attitude, nearly making him faint.
He had heard from Jin Hui that the Third Young Miss had returned, and he had come happily to see his daughter and ask why she had left for Qushui City without saying goodbye. But who would have thought that as soon as he arrived, he'd see his two daughters fighting, followed by his second daughter being pushed to the ground and losing consciousness, and his third daughter ignoring him completely and carrying the other away.
Nangong Ya stood rooted to the spot, feeling a buzzing in his head as if he had been hit with a blunt object.
"Master, I'll go call for Li Jiu," Jin Hui said.
Seeing that Nangong Ya was about to lose his composure, Jin Hui took the initiative without waiting for orders and ran towards the side hall where the guards lived.
Seeing this, Jin Yao also hurriedly spoke up to comfort him, his eyes filled with deep sympathy: "Master, don't worry. Let's go inside first and wait for Li Jiu to come and examine the Second Young Miss. It'll be alright."
Nangong Ya took several deep breaths to steady himself: "Let's go."